Help me select an Audio Receiver

[Sammy Cat]

I'm in kind of a pinch. I don't have time to do thorough research and learn about which home theater audio receiver I should purchase. I need some guidance from somebody that has knowledge on the products. I would like to have a nice surround sound where I can enjoy movies, but my main concern is listening to internet radio and MP3's. Any suggestions at all would be appreciated.

Here is what I would like to do:

1. Surround Sound for a 16X16 room
2. Able to play music from ipod, ipad or imac (via blue tooth I suppose)
3. Be able to stream internet radio from iMac (not iHeart)
4. Be able to stream iHeart radio or able to select within the receiver
5. Be able to stream internet videos/sound from sites like vimeo, tudou, youtube from iMac or iPad or with??? (Chromecast?)

 

[ChrisA]

I'm in kind of a pinch. I don't have time to do thorough research and learn about which home theater audio receiver I should purchase. I need some guidance from somebody that has knowledge on the products. I would like to have a nice surround sound where I can enjoy movies, but my main concern is listening to internet radio and MP3's. Any suggestions at all would be appreciated.

Here is what I would like to do:

1. Surround Sound for a 16X16 room
2. Able to play music from ipod, ipad or imac (via blue tooth I suppose)
3. Be able to stream internet radio from iMac (not iHeart)
4. Be able to stream iHeart radio or able to select within the receiver
5. Be able to stream internet videos/sound from sites like vimeo, tudou, youtube from iMac or iPad or with??? (Chromecast?)

Amplifiers are very easy to buy. The HARD part is shopping for speakers. Find the speakers you like first. Decide where to put them. As a rule the larger they are the better the sound

What is your budget? How much do you want to spend of speakers? How much on the amplifier.

You are calling this a "receiver" but I did not see where you said you'd be listening to FM radio.

The best way to get sound from your Mac or IOS device is to buy an Apple "Airport Express".

 

[satcomer]

I'm in kind of a pinch. I don't have time to do thorough research and learn about which home theater audio receiver I should purchase. I need some guidance from somebody that has knowledge on the products. I would like to have a nice surround sound where I can enjoy movies, but my main concern is listening to internet radio and MP3's. Any suggestions at all would be appreciated.

Here is what I would like to do:

1. Surround Sound for a 16X16 room
2. Able to play music from ipod, ipad or imac (via blue tooth I suppose)
3. Be able to stream internet radio from iMac (not iHeart)
4. Be able to stream iHeart radio or able to select within the receiver
5. Be able to stream internet videos/sound from sites like vimeo, tudou, youtube from iMac or iPad or with??? (Chromecast?)

Depends: I know it's not high end but the Pioneer SC-1223-K 7.2-Channel Network A/V Receiver. I have the older one and one thing you can do is run an ethernet cable to it and go to it's wiki page to add Internet stream streamer from your browser (that's on the same network by going to the receivers IP address) and just paste the internet address of the streamer. Also with Airplay you could just use iTunes and something like Airplay to send with Apple Airplay to the receiver.

Then you just have to decide how to setup your speakers in your house using your favorite speakers. Getting a subwoofer would be good to.

Here is a good NewEgg review: